Skyler, Haley, and Lindsey

Mrs. Weathersbee
English 2 honors
25 November 2013
Analysis of Mark Antony's Funeral Oration
In Mark Antony's funeral oration, he uses many rhetorical strategies to get his point
across. The strategies that Antony used were both effective and ingenuous. Anyone
could think of these strategies but Antony's speech put them together in a remarkable
way, helping him to ultimately reach his goal.
Logos is a common way to persuade an audience. Logos is an appeal of logic and
usually uses facts and common knowledge to argue a purpose. In Mark Antony's
speech, he used a lot of facts. The most influential fact was "When that the poor have
cried, Caesar hath wept" (44). This fact is important since the crowd is mostly the poor
countrymen. When Mark Antony tells the people that Caesar has wept for the poor, the
people are furious. They form the opinion that it is wrong to murder someone who
cared enough to weep for them.
Mark Antony uses a rhetorical strategy called a complex question. The question is
given without providing any evidence of the answer, but the answer is implied. "What
cause withholds you then to mourn for him?" (44) In this question, Mark Antony is
saying that the people have no reason not to mourn for Caesar. He implies that Caesar
was important enough for them to weep for his loss. This helps Mark Antony to
persuade the people to think that Brutus and his men aren't at all honorable.
In mark Antony's speech the pathos involved in the speech is very strong. The pathos
deals with how mark Antony uses his feelings in his speech. Mark Antony being
Caesars good friend is dealing with the death of Caesars, who was killed by Brutus and
as Antony said "Brutus and his beasts" Antony is saddened because his best friend is
now dead. The pathos is most noticeable in the quote, "my heart is in the coffin there
with Caesar and I must pause till it come back to me." The pathos effects his argument
because the people see the more vulnerable side of Antony. They sympathize with him
and are more likely to take his side.
The purpose of mark Antony's speech was to sway the audience. He wanted the
audience to believe that Brutus and his men were bad people, and that Caesar was a
good man who did not deserve his cruel fate. Here's an example of his purpose when
it is clearly shown, " o judgement, thou art fled to brutish beasts, and men have lost
their reason. Bear with me; My heart is is the coffin there with Caesar, And I must
pause till it come back to me" (44).
Throughout the course of Antony's funeral speech, he constantly uses the phrase
"honorable man", mostly referring to Brutus. The first time he says "And he is an
honorable man." (44), he means that Brutus is in fact, an honorable man. However, the
last time he uses the phrase, he is being sarcastic. Mark Antony uses both meanings
of the word honorable (real and sarcastic) to slowly let the idea that Brutus isn't an
honorable man sink into the minds of the public.
In mark Antony's speech the pathos involved in the speech is very strong. The
pathos deals with how mark Antony uses his feelings in his speech. Mark Antony being
Caesars good friend is dealing with the death of Caesars, who was killed by Brutus and
as Antony said "Brutus and his beasts" Antony is saddened because his best friend is
now dead. The pathos is most noticeable in the quote, "my heart is in the coffin there
with Caesar and I must pause till it come back to me." The pathos effects his argument
because the people see the more vulnerable side of Antony. They sympathize with him
and are more likely to take his side.
These strategies were very effective. Not only did Anthony prove a point, but he
turned a crowds opinion completely around. Not many people can construct an
effective speech. Antony's funeral speech is like the father of all speeches all because
he used rhetorical strategies.